http://dbd.game/killswitch
Skull Merchant design preview deletes identity and disappoints old mains
The concept presented does not suit skull merchant in the slightest and disappoints old mains who learned her drone rotation timing.
If this was on a new killer, it would be fun. However it is not skull merchant. At all.
A completely new direction should be taken instead of this. Amplifying her current kit to address complaints from both sides. Not a new mechanic, especially a mechanic so different.
As a long term SM main whos strived to be unbiased when it comes to feedback, I would feel betrayed if this went through.
Comments
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I think this would be a really cool power for a new character, but BHVR is hellbent on just getting rid of any killer that isn't centered on projectiles or dashes.
I don't even think it nominally makes sense for the character or the tone of the game, is the weird thing? This isn't good for anyone. Even people who 'like' the changes are just gonna play whoever they were already playing. Who is this for?
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I am really disappointed in the direction they are going. We had a unique stealth/trap killer and that identity is just being completely removed in exchange for another dash killer, which I think we have enough of already.
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I've just come to accept that BHVR would rather make every killer power similar to each other than to handle unique powers not being a hit.
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After years of being told "make the drones do something!" BHVR decided to make the drones do something.
I want her to be scary. I want her to be lethal. I want to have a unique gameplay experience. This is accomplished with the previews. The enjoyment of the character should not be held back by high level skill expression. I have spent an entire summer playing Skull Merchant. She isn't that scary to go against, or to play as the killer. Let's be real — ever since her first rework you still won't see claw traps most games unless you aggressively lean into the playstyle.
I just want her to be fun. The drones as they are discussed in the preview is fun. Fun should be the priority, not a minority.
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So, the way I see it, she has normal Drones that just scan the area, much like before, but they only reveal locations.
And the new part is that she can launch them into survivors AND she has what is simply put Grandpa's Sonar from the TCM game.
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And yet you only see these dash killers, and when someone plays the unique trap killers they all just DC because they are incredibly boring to face. At some point people have to understand dbd has leaned full into chases and the concept of trap based killers is just not good for the game. Unless they are done like singularity which is much more chase oriented than trap focused.
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She lost using undetectable to surprise tracked survivors. There's also no more claw traps.
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If you had an ice cream shop and everyone loved fruit flavors but like 3 people loved the sausage flavor that makes the other people in the store dizzy with the smell I think replacing that ice cream for a fruit based one is an obvious bussiness change. And as much as videogames are artistic and thematic, they are a bussiness.
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So we should just give up on making any unique killers and just go full dash killers for everything? I think that makes the game very boring. Having unique killers who do unique things is what makes the game enjoyable for me, and watering down killers identities just to appease people who are too impatient to play anything that isn't a dash killer feels like it is going to be really boring in the long run.
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I would think it not feeling like Skull Merchant is a plus.
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Out of these unique killers, most of them have been a failure and unfun to play against, look at knight and skull merchant, possibly the two worst chapters ever released on par with twins. Because they being original does not make them good or healthy for the game, if I were an excecutive at bhvr and saw how much knight and skull merchant have done for the satisfaction of customers vs lets say wesker, id 100% tell them to stop focusing on original designs that harm the product and do whats proven to be sucessful.
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I'm going to just have to disagree. I think current knight is very fun, if a little weak, and SM 2.0 was IMO very enjoyable. Just because killer isn't a dash/projectile killer and they take a little bit of effort to learn the counterplay doesn't make them a failure. And if something about the killer is frustrating, they can try to change it while still keeping their identity, like they did with Knight.
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The problem is, typically when you have killer powers that focus on macro gameplay rather than just a simple chase power... the counter is teamwork. Ppl really hate relying on their teammates for anything.
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That's true, but I don't think that is a good excuse not to make killers that have that style of gameplay, people just need to adjust how they play. If anything they could give survivors more ways to communicate in game to make teamwork easier, preferably opt in voice chat, although I know that is an unpopular opinion.
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You only see those dash killers, because when they release a killer who isn't a dash killer survivors complain about it and get it nerfed. Any sort of "macro" style killer gets complained about and nerfed or reworked see:
- Skull Merchant
- Onryo
- Knight
- Singularity
- Freddy
- Xenomorph
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Not only that but when you dodge a dash killer/proyectile you get that bit of satisfaction knowing you outplayed the killer. When you outrun the knights AI only to get hit by him or to just see the guard vanish there is no possitive feedback. Same with SM, dodging a beam is not satisfactory at all. So even tho I think this killers do have counterplay in the micro game, it is not fun and doesnt feel rewarding, against these killers you can be winning the match and still having an awfull time.
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I'm pretty sure deleting her identity is exactly what most people want because her current identity is rubbish.
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Are you gonna tell me that singularity got worse? That mf is a powerhouse, legit one of the most fun and powerfull killers rn. The changes made him absolutelly better wdym also on his release they literally nerfed EMPs what are you saying?
The new freddy while not strong is quite fun and probably a mid trier killer.
Sadako was incredibly weak until people found obnoxious ways to make her decent and yes bhvr killed her, then gave her a subpar power that is only good for noobstomping, that Ill side with you 100%
Xenomorph nerf wasnt needed nothing I can argue against that.
And knight an skullmerchant as said above are just a hassle to play against, like even tho they are weak and you can beat them easily once you face them at least me I just close the game, they are very boring. So the nerfs mostly came to make them easier to play against. Even reworked knight while not the strongest is still very boring.
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When talking about Freddy, I'm pretty sure they meant Freddy on release. THAT Freddy was 100% macro gameplay and was subjected to a HUGE review bomb. What we have now is completely different.
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It's most disappointing that the devs are telegraphing a desire to turn her into an M2 damage killer, which is both extremely off brand for the killer in question and very disheartening from the perspective of killer variety. We truly do not need every killer to either be a dash killer or a projectile killer.
It's frustrating especially that the devs verbally address the actual problem - her kit isn't intuitive - but seem to have already dismissed the idea of like… fixing that, instead of going back to the drawing board.
If this change or anything like it were to go through, it'd be bad for the game overall - not just because it's bad for every killer to follow one of two massively overplayed design paths, but also because what's being described probably won't be enough to convince the players who hate any macro-focused killer to play her while also ruining her for those who currently like that kind of power. It's the worst of both worlds.
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Her identity was largely based around either 3 genning for eternity or mindlessly pooping out a drone at a loop to get showered with passive buffs while survivors get passively debuffed. Those were the 2 main playstyles associated with her kit and neither of those two "identities" facilitated fun and engaging gameplay.
The current design preview has some glaring issues, but I do agree with BHVR's decision to completely redesign her power.
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